Family's new home fits the bill - casual, warm

DESIGN Couple with 3 kids build a house that's stylish and functional

Tracey Taylor, Special to The Chronicle

Published
4:00 am PST, Sunday, January 17, 2010

Everyday modernism: Cass Calder Smith designed the kid-friendly home in Los Altos Hills in three parts — the main house, the garage and a pool house — separated by breezeways to maximize natural light and create generous open spaces. The effect, on a lot studded with pepper, apricot and citrus trees, is of a contemporary, rural compound. less

Everyday modernism: Cass Calder Smith designed the kid-friendly home in Los Altos Hills in three parts — the main house, the garage and a pool house — separated by breezeways to maximize natural light and ... more

Photo: Matthew Millman

Photo: Matthew Millman

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Everyday modernism: Cass Calder Smith designed the kid-friendly home in Los Altos Hills in three parts — the main house, the garage and a pool house — separated by breezeways to maximize natural light and create generous open spaces. The effect, on a lot studded with pepper, apricot and citrus trees, is of a contemporary, rural compound. less

Everyday modernism: Cass Calder Smith designed the kid-friendly home in Los Altos Hills in three parts — the main house, the garage and a pool house — separated by breezeways to maximize natural light and ... more

Photo: Matthew Millman

Family's new home fits the bill - casual, warm

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English manor or French chateau, marble staircases or chandeliers - it helps to know precisely what you don't want when looking for a home. But when one of those deal-breakers pops up at every open house, it might be better to start from scratch, as one Peninsula couple decided.

When they began their search two years ago, they coveted something contemporary but not stark - a good-looking home that would be functional. This would not be a home for grand entertaining or formal living but rather a place where the children, ages 11, 8 and 3, could run free and their parents could enjoy a kick-back lifestyle against a backdrop that had more than a modicum of style.

Clutching copies of Dwell magazine, the couple visited architect Cass Calder Smith of CCS Architecture to see if he could help them create what they wanted. Smith splits his time between San Francisco and New York and is known for restaurant designs, including Perbacco and Terzo, as well as residential projects. A visit to the 1-acre site the couple had bought in Los Altos Hills sealed the deal.

"Cass had great suggestions for the lot, which is both an odd shape and steep, in areas," says the owner.

Smith designed a dwelling in three parts - the main house, the garage and a pool house - separated by breezeways to maximize natural light and create generous open spaces. The effect, on a lot studded with pepper, apricot and citrus trees, is of a contemporary, rural compound. This area of Los Altos Hills was a farming community known for its bountiful apricot orchards.

The boundaries between the home's interiors and the property's outside spaces are seamless. Large sliding doors open from the open-plan family room, kitchen and dining area to the west-facing garden. Both the breezeway linking the house to the garage and a huge deck leading from the master suite create more exterior areas.

"The deck is like a whole other playground," the owner says, adding that they recently hosted a children's birthday party where all the action was outdoors. "There were light-saber fights on the breezeway and water-pistol games from all over the place," she says.

The home's front door leads directly into a cozy living room with a fireplace. The rest of the floor is one big, open space divided by wood-clad boxes used for storage and to hide pipes and wiring. The house as a whole boasts ample storage, a consequence of the client reminding the architect periodically that more is always better when there's a family involved. The second-floor bedroom is shaped like a long bar and is rotated in relation to the first floor, creating a sheltered space below.

The lower level comprises a media room and guest suite, and a mudroom with more storage space.

With its use of wood and other natural materials, the feel of the home is California modern rather than sleek minimalist modern. "We were led by the clients," says Smith. "Just like them, the home is casual and warm, not fancy."

Both the clients and Smith wanted to incorporate as many sustainable elements as possible into the design. Thus, solar panels heat the pool and contribute significantly to reducing the family's electricity bills. The roof is made of efficient, structurally insulated panels. There is recycled denim insulation, built-in natural ventilation and sunshades on most of the doors, and windows with deep overhangs to temper the light and decrease heat gain in the summer.

One decision the owners made early on was to focus the budget on the architecture and spend less on elements such as the finishes and furniture (see "Money-saving tips"). The result, says Smith, illustrates how one can create a modern home that is timeless but not overly expensive.

"Some people want to create a masterpiece or a 'final resting place,' and the home might end up being amazing, but it requires a huge investment of time and money. Here we didn't want to design an icon or an unnecessary burden for our clients. Its success is due to its configuration of space and light and because the project was driven by all the supporting characters."

Smith has a term to describe the result: "everyday modernism."

Money-saving tips

Cass Calder Smith's clients chose to spend money on the architectural elements of space, light and connections to the outdoors rather than on expensive fixtures and finishes. Here are other ways they kept costs down.

A simple plan. The home's structure was kept as simple as possible by using primarily wood framing.

Spaced siding. The home's siding is regular 1-inch-by-2-inch cedar board, but Smith had it laid with a half-inch space between each slat to give the exterior of the house a distinctive appearance. It also weathers well, requiring less maintenance.

Off the shelf. Smith chose high-end off-the-shelf aluminum windows and sliding doors for the home, which blend in with the overall design scheme.

Tile with a twist. The homeowners chose relatively inexpensive tile for the bathrooms, then had it laid in bands to give it an edgier, more interesting look.

Spare bulbs. For the light fixtures over the dining room table, Smith used industrial bare-bulb Edison lights. They cost about $50 each, while similar designer fixtures would be much more.

Cost-cutting cabinets. The kitchen cabinets were made of sustainable medium-density fiberboard and then painted; the door and drawer handles are from Ikea.